Transcript of "Cinyras"

1.
Cinyras
chrystaleni christodoulou

2.
Information
In the earliest testimony for this character in ancient Greek
literature (the account of Homer), Cinyras was a ruler on
Cyprus who gave a corselet to Agamemnon as a guest-gift
when he heard that the Greeks were planning to sail to
Troy.Eustathius in his commentary on this passage relates
that Cinyras promised assistance to Agamemnon, but did not
keep his word: having promised to send fifty ships, he actually
sent only one, while the rest were sculpted from earth, with
figures of men (also made of earth) imitating the crew. He was
cursed by Agamemnon and subsequently punished by Apollo,
who beat him in a musical contest (similar to that between
Apollo and Marsyas, to see who was a better musician with a

3.
Later, in Greek and Roman literature and in the
Christian fathers such as Clement of Alexandria, the
story of Cinyras is elaborated. They say that on
Cyprus, Cinyras was revered as the creator of art
and of musical instruments, such as the flute. In one
source, he is also noted for his physical
beauty.Hesychius says he was a son of Apollo,while
Hyginus consistently calls him a son of Paphos
(presumably the eponym of Paphos),and a scholiast
on Pindar makes him a son of Eurymedon and the
nymph Paphia.In other sources he is the husband of
Galatea. Cinyras was reported to have fathered a

4.
According to Ovid, Cinyras' daughter Myrrha,
impelled by an unnatural lust for her own father,
slept with him, became pregnant, and asked the
gods to change her into something other than
human. She became a tree from whose bark myrrh
drips.From this incestuous union sprang the child
Adonis. Cinyras was said to have committed suicide
over the matter. Other authors equate Cinyras and
Myrrha with king Theias of Assyria and his daughter
Smyrna, and relate the same story of them. Hyginus
uses the name Cinyras for the father, but Smyrna for
the daughter.